Dolphins and whales harmed by open-pen salmon farms
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● “Whale swam into salmon cage - shot by the Directorate of Fisheries”
“In May, SalMar caught a whale swimming into the [fish farm] cage at the Borvika location. It ended up being euthanized by the Directorate of Fisheries.”
● A 4-5m long minke whale tore a 70cm hole into a net pen in Norway and was discovered in the middle of the cage when workers started their shift at 7am. “After a long day at work, the crew finally got the uninvited guest out.”
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A humpback became entangled in rope and a buoy at a fish farm off the Isle of Skye, Scotland.
The whale was no longer able to swim freely.
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● “Whale deaths continue in salmon farming areas of Chilean Patagonia”
“On September 12, [2023] the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Service (Sernapesca) of Aysén received a report from a worker of this salmon farming company about a beached whale with a rope around its body.”
“According to Sernapesca, the characteristics of the entanglement indicate that it was not recent, as the specimen had marks on the skin derived from a prolonged strangulation process.”
“Among marine conservation researchers there are concerns about the continuing discovery of dead sei whales in salmon farming areas of Chilean Patagonia. In 2015, the stranding of 343 whales was discovered along the coast of the Gulf of Penas in Aysen, and 100 of those dead whales were sei whales. It’s believed that the cause of death were either harmful algal blooms (HABs) or infectious agents related to salmon farming pollution.”
“In April 2020, the death of a sei whale specimen of approximately 15 meters in length was recorded, stranded on the side of a raft-cage of the Matilde 3 [fish] farming center, […].The specimen's body was wrapped in ropes of different lengths, while a metal chain – corresponding to the anchorages and moorings of sea lion nets – surrounded its body.“
“In April 2022, following complaints from environmental groups, Sernapesca, together with personnel from the Skorpios Patagonia Business Group, extracted the carcass of a juvenile male sei whale that had beached itself under the loading and services dock used by the salmon industry in Puerto Natales.”
● “The mourning of the Chilean coasts: the number of dead stranded cetaceans increased more than 400% in the last 13 years”
“Specialists such as Elsa Cabrera, executive director of the non-governmental organization Cetácea Conservation Center, assure that the main threat to whales is no longer hunting, but cargo ships: “All the activity of industrial salmon farms is a growing threat,” she says. For his part, Luis Bedriñana, a marine biologist from the NGO Centro Ballena Azul, reaffirms this idea through research he carried out in 2021. The expert portrayed with an animation how a blue whale looking to get food had to avoid more than 1,000 ships during a week in the Gulf of Ancud. This was published in the scientific journal Nature and showed that 83% of the vessels that get in the way of the whales in that area are fleets from the aquaculture industry.”
● The salmon industry “has a long history of causing mortality not only to cetaceans, but also to other marine mammals,” according to the Cetacean Conservation Center (a Chilean NGO).
“Cetacean Conservation Center (CCC) stated: “We regret this new record of a whale killed by interaction with the salmon industry.”
“The Ecoceanos Centre and the Cetacean Conservation Center (CCC) point out that the death of the whale specimen in Puerto Natales exposes the falsity of the salmon marketing campaign aimed at North American consumers under the slogan of ‘Healthy food and respectful of the environment’.”
The article also mentions a blue whale that was killed by a “collision by a salmon cargo ship” the year before.
● “Whale found tangled and trapped in rope dies at salmon farm”
“The sei whale, around 15m in length, is believed to have died after it became entangled in one of the nets at a salmon farm.”
“It had become almost entirely entangled with ropes of different length. Furthermore, a metal chain was found wrapped around the whale.”
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● “Even one of B.C.’s largest animals is not immune to harm from salmon farms. There have been a number of incidents of humpbacks injured, trapped, found dead or killed in association with salmon farms and their equipment.”
“In March 2013 a humpback was found dead at a fish farm northwest of Tofino. Although the company suggested the dead whale drifted into their site, DFO staff said another possibility is it became entangled in fish farm equipment and drowned.”
“In September 2016 a juvenile humpback was severely entangled in ropes from a salmon farm site near Klemtu. The whale thrashed around for at least 12 hours while ropes cut into its flesh and it struggled to breathe. After hours of rescue efforts, the whale was freed, but whether it ultimately survived is uncertain.”
“A dead humpback was found entangled in an anchor support line in November 2016 at an empty salmon farm on B.C.’s Central Coast.”
“Another humpback, this time a juvenile, died in November 2016 after it became trapped between the inner and outer nets of a fish farm in Nootka Sound.”
“In December 2018, a humpback was trapped inside a factory farm near Tofino and had to be freed when staff made the discovery.”
● “A scientific study later concluded that the devices [high-amplitude acoustic harassment devices installed by fish farms to deter seals] were associated with displacing orcas from the area for a period of five years.”
16 March 2024
Fish Farms Kill: The long history and heavy toll salmon farms have had on fish and wildlife
● “2nd humpback death in 2 weeks worries experts, farmed salmon industry”
“Three humpback whale entanglements at B.C. fish farms in recent months, two of which resulted in deaths, have whale researchers and the salmon farming industry concerned.”
“A juvenile humpback died last weekend after it became trapped between the inner and outer containment nets at Greig Seafood's Atrevida salmon farm in Nootka Sound.”
“The death comes just two weeks after another dead humpback was found stuck in equipment at an empty Marine Harvest Canada fish farm on B.C.'s Central Coast. In that case, the whale became entangled in an anchor support line at a site north of Bella Bella.”
“A third humpback whale was rescued from the same spot in September, but it has not been spotted since, and it's not clear if it survived the injures it suffered.”
“"Three humpbacks entangled in fish farm gear in the last two and a half months. Is this new? Yes, because humpbacks are back in numbers that are unprecedented," said Jackie Hildering, a humpback researcher with the Marine Education and Research Society.”
“Humpbacks are particularly at risk from fish farm equipment because they do not have bio-sonar like toothed whales, Hildering said. This makes it less likely they will avoid the equipment when they're diving for food.”
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“The company's divers were making routine checks of the fish nets when they found the dead dolphins at two separate salmon farms in the Pelorus Sound.”
“One carcass was recovered at Kopaua farm and identified as a Dusky dolphin, but the other dolphin, at Waihinau farm, could not be accessed at the time.”